Monday, September 19, 2011

What A Whirlwind! Part One, Meet And Greet

Months of planning, recruiting and organizing has come to a close as GBK Productions Primetime Emmy Awards Gift Lounge has finally ended and oh what a rush! When Valerie and I first arrived at the event in the W Hotel in Hollywood there were people scurrying around with glue guns, flowers, lighting and a whole plethora of fun things that will later make the event into a beautiful, warm hallway filled with pink trees and Tic Tacs!

A rather lage sign made of Tic Tacs welcomes attendees to the Gift Lounge

Yes that is a Tic Tac Dress and it took 3 people with glue guns all day to do it!

﻿

Finishing Touches

Our table was lucky enough to be placed in the very first room with the event sponsers Ancestry.com as well as CNN Heros, The Cravory and Haan Therapeutics. The best part was that we could see the antics that went on while the celebs posed for photos at the staging area. Nia Peeples, who is always such fun ended up laying down on her side as she hammed it up. We were also thankful to have a 10 foot table so everyone's displays had room to shine. Set up didn't take very long to do being we had a giant 5 foot banner to piece together (I am the putter-together-er as this is not a thing Valerie, um, I guess I can say enjoys, She does the budget which is something that throws me into a lobotomized state)

﻿

Our Display Table

﻿With our table set up we could walk around and see what others were doing so we walked along the hallway and got to meet everyone. Some of the sponsers I remembered from past events like the Wine Chateau and it was nice to say hello to them. Some sponsers ran up to us and told us they heard about us and couldn't wait to see our table! It was quite a surprise and an honor.

Walking around I noticed a table with these beautifully illustrated books on them. I got to chat with their rep and learned about the book, the more I learned the more I fell in love with the whole concept surrounding it so if you ever get a chance, pick up a copy of "Just Like You" written by Robert Kroupa and pass it along to every child you know.

While we were getting to know some of the sponsors, we had the pleasure of trying some very tasty h'orderves. My favorite was a skewer with avocado, mozzerella drizzed with balsamic, an olive and black, red, or yellow tomatoes. Music was playing and excitement was in the air but the night had to end and Valerie and I headed upstairs to our room.

That is a quick little behind the scenes for the first night. Our celebrity pictures should be arriving soon. I know our members are so excited to see them and as soon as we share them with The Artisan Group Members I will share them with you too and all the stories that go along with them...

...but before I go here is a little look into the event just after we set our table, don't mind the music or quality as I had a little point and shoot to film with